The present invention concerns an airbag module for the passenger side of a vehicle with a diffusor pipe, a gas generator accommodated in and connected to the diffusor pipe, a folded-together air sack accommodated outside of and fastened to the diffusor pipe, a holder around the air sack, and cover components tensioned between a flange at one end of the gas generator or of a generator disk and the ends of the diffusor pipe and securely tensioning the edges of a loop that fits over the diffusor pipe and secures the air sack.
The holder in the gas-sack unit known from German 4 137 691 A 1, which discloses most of the aforesaid features, comprises a shrunken-on flexible tube with a breakapart that rips open when the sack unfolds. This unit, however, satisfies only some of the requirements that will be discussed hereinafter.
In the set of components known from German 19 616 941 C 1 a web of material is wrapped around the diffusor pipe and extends to a cap that conceals the airbag module, demarcating the module along its longitudinal sides. Inconvenient here is that the module absolutely must include the concealing cap, and passenger-side airbag modules of this genus cannot be employed when a customer wants to use the cap with another prefabricated assembly like an instrument panel for example.
Rapidly inflatable "pillows" called airbags are currently part of the standard equipment in automobiles. Explosion-like combustion accompanied by the generation of gas is triggered by a pyrotechnical fuse, and/or compressed gas released, in response to an electronically detected deceleration signal, and the folded-together airbag is inflated within 20 to 60 milliseconds, becoming an air-filled pillow that prevents the passenger from striking the surrounding parts of the automobile hard, at least in the direction of acceleration, once an impact occurs and a prescribed critical deceleration has been detected and the ignition is released.
Contemporary vehicles leave space in the bodywork for the module, which comprises the folded-together airbag, the gas generator, and the fuse. The space is usually concealed behind a cover that matches the interior of the vehicle. The cover does not impede the emergence of the rapidly inflated airbag. There are two prerequisites for such a module.
First, it must have fasteners for fastening it behind the cover and in its accommodation. Second, it must be accommodated protected during storage, shipment, assembly, installation, and ordinary stress over the life of the vehicle.
To satisfy the aforesaid demands, a number of housings and similar structures have also been proposed. These perform the aforesaid functions well enough although most of them are far too complicated and in particular relatively heavy as well. The known housings are as a rule made of metal or plastic, and a lot of attention is devoted not only to securely fasten the airbag, made of non-ripping textile, into the housing but also to provide the latter with fasteners that allow it to be securely fastened to the bodywork at the site of installation. Such housings are often not acceptable for contemporary vehicle manufacture from the aspects of efficiency, economy, and ecology. There is accordingly a need to protect airbag modules as hereintofore described while conserving as much material and weight as possible and while keeping them clean and undamaged in any way.